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Xcel scrambles to restore gas to county customers, frigid residents bide time

Niwot and Gunbarrel neighborhoods struggle through Arctic cold snap

By Joe Rubino Camera Staff Writer

Posted:
12/07/2013 06:59:17 PM MST

Updated:
12/07/2013 10:01:41 PM MST

Jim Kalinski, right, talks with Zack Shaw, of Xcel Energy, down in the crawlspace as the power company relighted the house's furnace in Niwot, Colo., on Saturday, Dec. 7, 2013. With the help of space heaters and electric blankets Kalinski and his family stayed in the home overnight as the temperature dropped down to 41 degrees inside.
(
Paul Aiken
)

Xcel Energy trucks were everywhere in the Niwot and Gunbarrel areas Saturday, as hundreds of workers scrambled to restore natural gas to approximately 7,200 households and businesses that had been left without service -- and heat--after a crippling equipment failure early Friday morning.

Xcel spokesman Mark Stutz said the company anticipated it could restore gas to about 400 customers an hour. By 9:50 p.m. Saturday, slightly more than 5,000 had their service restored, according to Stutz.

"As expected, daytime conditions are helping the pace of restoration," Stutz said early Saturday.

Stutz said crews planned to work through the night into Sunday morning if necessary to restore service to all affected customers.

But Friday and Saturday were trying for many.

Niwot resident Virginia Holtzman-Bell said firefighters and paramedics had to come to her house at 7:40 Friday morning when it filled with natural gas.

"I was letting the water run to warm up for a shower but it wasn't getting warm and I couldn't figure out why. I came downstairs and there was the overwhelming smell of natural gas," she said. "When EMS arrived they said 'M'am, we can smell the gas from the street. You need to come out of the house.'"

Holtzman-Bell said she and her dog, a 12-year-old yellow Labrador named Tucker, sat in an ambulance while crews shut off her power and began to air out her home.

"The fire department guys were awesome," she said.

Many of those affected voiced their displeasure with Xcel's handling of the situation late Friday night. The company sent out a phone message to customers, telling them to be in their homes so that crews could get inside to light pilot lights -- but in many cases those crews did not come.

Alyssa Ostrander said she and her life partner spent the night in a Boulder hotel after unsuccessfully waiting for about three hours for a Xcel worker to show up at their Gunbarrel home on Willow Lane.

Ostrander said in a Saturday interview that she'd been told that Xcel would be at her home at about 11 p.m. Friday. She said she'd sat in her car outside the home, with the engine running to keep warm, before giving up and spending the rest of the night at the Boulder Marriott.

Despite the ubiquitous utility crews Saturday, many chilly area residents had no choice but to wait patiently in their homes, as workers went door to door. Susanne Metzler and her husband, Tom, residents of Gunbarrel's Country Club Estates neighborhood, were among those who waited for their gas to be restored Saturday afternoon.

"We don't want to leave because that's when they'll show up," Metzler said.

The couple, who wore coats indoors and drank plenty of coffee to keep warm, said their house on Friday night cooled off to 50 degrees despite the presence of two space heaters.

Their home also was one of around 4,000 that lost electricity for about an hour Friday night, prompting them to take their 17-year-old daughter and dog to a hotel in Boulder for the night.

The couple expressed gratitude for the crews hard at work, but noted it was not easy to remain patient when Xcel could not give them a firm timeline for when their gas would be restored.

"They're working hard in the cold. We're not complaining about those people," Metzler said of Xcel crews. "But I don't want to be told (the gas) will be back on at noon if it's not going to be until tomorrow. Just tell us that. We're not really upset. We just want to know if it's going to be today."

A few doors down from the Metzlers, Luis Montealegre, 19, also bided his time waiting for crews. His family rushed out to the local King Soopers on Friday morning where they purchased four space heaters, and also used their electric oven to help keep their house at a bearable temperature.

"We all had to sleep in the living room because upstairs and the basement were just too cold," said Montealegre, referring to his mom, dad, two brothers, and his grandmother and cousin who are visiting from Guatemala.

In Niwot, several local businesses had their gas restored around midday Saturday including the Abo's Pizza located at 7960 Niwot Road.

Employee Anthony Coronel said he and his boss were working on a way to retrofit the oven to run on propane when an utility worker stopped in and lit the pilot light.

Coronel said the store didn't sell and single pie on Friday, likely costing the business between $1,500 and $3,500 in lost sales.

At his house, not far from Abo's, Coronel said temperatures topped out at about 40 degrees in his room, where he was reluctant to run a space heater overnight. He said four blankets, including two made of wool, were little help.

"I couldn't really sleep the whole night," he said, noting he didn't considering leaving for a warming shelter or hotel as some others did. "I stuck it out. But I noticed there was a bunch of cars driving down Niwot Road to highway 119 all at the same time."

Chef Justin Hirschfield said gas was restored to the deli at Niwot Market around 11:30 a.m., and he and other employees got right to work cooking soups, which he expected to be a big seller in the frigid cold.

Hirschfield said he first learned of the gas outage through a local heating repairman he called to come to his house Friday morning. Fortunately, Hirschfield said, his house has a wood-burning stove, in which he and his girlfriend burned through five bundles of wood Friday night, warming their living room to about 75 degrees. The bedroom, however, has large windows, Hirschfield said, and was about 45 degrees when he woke up Saturday morning.

"You take the covers off and it gets your attention real quick," he said.

Boulder County emergency responders fielded numerous calls about burst pipes in the outage area Saturday.

The city of Boulder and Left Hand Water District planned to shut off water to between 30 and 60 Gunbarrel homes late in the evening in hopes of preventing further property damage related to the outage, according to officials.

In a news release, Boulder public works spokesman Mike Banuelos said affected water customers should call 303-441-3245 once their gas was back on to have their water service restored. Left Hand users in the same situation were advised to call 303-530-4200.

Some people questioned whether Xcel would be compensating impacted residential and commercial customers, but Stutz said he felt raising that issue was premature while the company's focus remained fixed on the restoration efforts.

Holtzman-Bell, whose Niwot home had been filled with gas, was eventually allowed to return to her residence on Friday, where she and her husband stayed warm with space heaters. While her gas still had not been restored as of Saturday afternoon, she expressed gratitude for the work being put in by Xcel.

"I think everybody is working very hard," she said. "I've been very impressed with Xcel's communication and professionalism."

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